News5-IN-5 Video Series
20 Oct 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, October 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
16 Sep 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, September 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
NewsPortfolio Changes
2 Sep 2026
Portfolio Changes in September 2026 for Northstar Portfolios
AZ Sestante has removed the GQG Partners Global Equity Fund (Hedged) and Ironbark Brown Advisory Global Share Fund from the Northstar Moderately Conservative, Balanced and Assertive portfolios, with the proceeds allocated to the Vinva Global Alpha Extension Fund and Barrow Hanley Global Share Fund (Hedged).
NewsPortfolio Changes
2 Sep 2026
Portfolio Changes in September 2026 for Sestante Dynamic Portfolios
AZ Sestante has exited the GQG Partners Global Equity Fund (Hedged) and Ironbark Brown Advisory Global Share Fund across all five Sestante Dynamic risk profiles, with the proceeds allocated to the Vinva Global Alpha Extension Fund and Barrow Hanley Global Share Fund (Hedged).
NewsInsightCIO Comment
31 Aug 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – August 2026
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spent August stepping into markets — from a rare joint intervention with Japan to support the Yen to an emergency expansion of Treasury buybacks — as US federal debt passed $40 trillion and the 10-year yield tested 4.70%. AZ Sestante Chief Investment Officer Andrea Ciaccio explains why the global rise in yields reflects a strong economy rather than a looming bond collapse, and why fixed income is offering value for the first time in three years.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
27 Aug 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, August 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
News
3 Aug 2026
Sestante welcomes Jacob Reed as the new Investment Analyst
We are pleased to welcome our newest team member, Jacob Reed, who joins Sestante as an Investment Analyst with over five years of experience in the financial services industry, spanning investment analysis, portfolio consulting and financial advice.
NewsInsightCIO Comment
31 Jul 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – July 2026
Investors spent July having second thoughts about AI. Softer demand for Amazon’s US$25 billion bond raising, an S&P downgrade of Oracle to one notch above junk, OpenAI’s IPO pushed out to 2027 and the fire sale of a US$45 billion hedge fund’s equity book all pointed to a crowded trade unwinding. AZ Sestante Chief Investment Officer Andrea Ciaccio explains why the washout has left market structure healthier, and why the real problem sits at the short end of the yield curve rather than the long end.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
28 Jul 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, July 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
News
13 Jul 2026
AZ Sestante Appoints Paul Saliba as Senior Portfolio Manager
13 July 2026: Investment consultant, AZ Sesante, has appointed Paul Saliba as Senior Portfolio Manager and signaled plans to bolster its investment team and capabilities, coinciding with the group’s tenth anniversary.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
30 Jun 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – June 2026
SpaceX’s record-breaking US$75 billion IPO dominated headlines in June, but AZ Sestante Chief Investment Officer Andrea Ciaccio argues the more important story is what softer US inflation data failed to do to markets. He unpacks the reversal in crowded AI momentum trades, a run of steady-handed central banks from the Fed to the RBA, and why a ‘sticky’ inflation backdrop leaves incoming Fed Chair Kevin Warsh little choice but to sound hawkish.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
18 Jun 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, June 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
19 May 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, May 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
30 Apr 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – April 2026
The S&P 500’s V-shaped recovery from the Iran-driven oil shock ranks among the fastest rebounds in market history, even as bond yields kept climbing on fears of a synchronised global rate-hiking cycle. Andrea Ciaccio explains why this rally differs from history’s other rapid recoveries — corporate earnings, not a post-recession rebound, are doing the heavy lifting — and flags Anthropic’s surge past US$30 billion in annualised revenue as a sign AI infrastructure spending keeps accelerating. He remains constructive on growth assets but continues to favour markets outside the US and global small caps.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
14 Apr 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, April 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Mar 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – March 2026
Crude oil’s second-best month in history followed Iranian strikes on Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG complex and a near-total halt in Strait of Hormuz shipping traffic, reviving comparisons with the 1973 and 1979 oil shocks. Andrea Ciaccio explains why today’s shock differs from the 1970s, 1990 and 2008 precedents, and why central banks may be forced into ill-timed rate hikes to defend their credibility after the “transitory” inflation misstep of 2021-22. He is trimming AZ Sestante’s overweight to global duration in favour of Australian bonds as a result.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
23 Mar 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, March 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
12 Mar 2026
5-in-5 Special Edition with Sestante Investment Analyst: Middle East Update, March 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
28 Feb 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – February 2026
Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 and Sonnet 4.6 releases ignited fears that AI-driven “vibecoding” could gut the SaaS business model, triggering a US$1 trillion software sell-off and a private-credit scare at Blue Owl Capital. Andrea Ciaccio also unpacks the widening Israel-Iran conflict’s impact on oil, framing three scenarios for 2026 depending on whether crude stabilises, spikes toward US$150-200, or drives a regional growth “divergence”. He explains why the disruption risk to asset-light “quality” business models is prompting a shift toward value and emerging-market equities.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
24 Feb 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, February 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
News
5 Feb 2026
RBA Rate Hike – What’s Changed & What Hasn’t
The Reserve Bank of Australia increased the cash rate this week, a move that was widely expected. As of 3 February, Australian markets are pricing one to two further 0.25% rate hikes by year-end, while the U.S. market is increasingly pricing additional rate cuts by the Fed.
News
2 Feb 2026
AZ Sestante appoints Vilma Attanasio as Director of Sales & Distribution
AZ Sestante is pleased to announce the appointment of Vilma Attanasio as Director of Sales & Distribution.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Jan 2026
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – January 2026
January’s headlines were dominated by Washington’s hardening “Monroe Doctrine” posture — the capture of Venezuela’s Maduro, threats over Greenland, and blunt warnings from Canadian and Belgian leaders about a fracturing global order. Andrea Ciaccio explains why Bank of America’s fund manager survey shows the sharpest rotation out of US technology since March 2025, even as bullishness reaches a multi-year high, and why he expects US growth and inflation to both surprise relative to consensus in 2026. He also flags Kevin Warsh’s nomination to succeed Jerome Powell as a key theme for the year ahead.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
13 Jan 2026
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, January 2026
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Dec 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – December 2025
2025 was a once-in-50-years year for markets: equities, bonds, commodities and gold all surged together as the US dollar tumbled — yet Bitcoin and Ethereum fell even as the Nasdaq 100 soared. Andrea Ciaccio explains why silver’s extraordinary +147% year, culminating in it becoming more valuable than oil per unit, reflects genuine industrial scarcity rather than speculation. Looking ahead, he flags the looming Fed chair transition and a “Goldilocks” backdrop of easing policy and resilient growth as the key themes for 2026.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
8 Dec 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, December 2025
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
30 Nov 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – November 2025
From Trump’s “G2” outreach to Beijing to a leaked 28-point Ukraine peace plan seen as favouring Russia, November’s geopolitical realignment competed for headlines with a dovish Fed pivot. Andrea Ciaccio unpacks the FOMC’s third rate cut, its new Treasury bill purchase programme, and why Powell’s optimism about AI-driven productivity gives the Fed room to keep easing even as growth reaccelerates. He also flags a hawkish shift at the RBA as a reason to keep favouring international over domestic equities.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
17 Nov 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, November 2025
Key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Oct 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – October 2025
A government shutdown, a wobble in private credit after the collapses of Tricolor and First Brands, and a hawkish Fed pause combined to end the Nasdaq 100’s seven-month winning streak. Andrea Ciaccio argues “Too Late” Powell is at risk of mistiming policy again just as America’s “K-shaped” economy — thriving at the top, struggling at the bottom — becomes a defining political issue ahead of the midterms. He remains constructive on growth assets and sees the pullback as an opportunity to add exposure to global small caps.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
13 Oct 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, October 2025
Key highlights in the macroeconomic environment for the month and trends that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
30 Sep 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – September 2025
September’s AI dealmaking frenzy — Anthropic’s US$183 billion valuation, OpenAI’s circular US$100 billion Nvidia tie-up, and Oracle’s blockbuster Microsoft and OpenAI contracts — pushed AI’s share of the S&P 500’s total return since 2024 to roughly 72%. Andrea Ciaccio argues that, unlike the Dot-Com era, today’s boom is underwritten by corporate balance sheets, government policy and a powerful “wealth effect” tied to US$176 trillion of household net worth. He explains why that makes an abrupt bubble burst less likely near term, even as valuations grow more stretched.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
15 Sep 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, September 2025
Key highlights in the macroeconomic environment for the month and trends that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Aug 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – August 2025
Powell’s Jackson Hole swansong walked a tightrope between capitulating to Trump’s demands and defying a weakening labour market, ultimately paving the way for a September cut. Andrea Ciaccio explains why this would be one of the few times in modern history the Fed has eased with inflation still rising, and examines Trump’s escalating campaign against the central bank, including his push to remove Governor Lisa Cook. He also looks at Stephen Miran’s nomination to the Fed board as a sign of growing political influence over monetary policy.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
11 Aug 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, August 2025
Key highlights in the macroeconomic environment for the month and trends that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Jul 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – July 2025
July brought a wave of bilateral trade deals — with Japan, the EU and South Korea — that finally gave markets clarity on tariff rates after months of chaotic threats. Andrea Ciaccio examines Fed Chair hopeful Kevin Warsh’s call to shrink the central bank’s balance sheet and cut rates simultaneously, and argues the Fed should already have eased in July. He also unpacks how record AI capital expenditure and government deficits are “crowding out” credit for small businesses and consumers.
News
28 Jul 2025
Financial year in review: 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025
The 2024–25 financial year was marked by rapidly shifting macroeconomic conditions, central bank pivots, political transitions, and significant volatility across asset classes. Despite multiple headwinds, most major markets delivered positive returns over the full year, though with clear regional and sectoral divergences.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
10 Jul 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, July 2025
Key highlights in the macroeconomic environment for the month and trends that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
30 Jun 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – June 2025
Trump’s campaign to oust “Too Late” Powell intensified in June, with the President plotting to name a dovish “shadow chair” as soon as September. Andrea Ciaccio unpacks the growing rift on the FOMC between hawks and doves, and why June’s hotter core CPI print — with tariffs now visibly feeding into goods prices — complicates the path to rate cuts. He also explains why the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” reinforces a constructive medium-term view on growth assets.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
12 Jun 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, June 2025
Key highlights in the macroeconomic environment for the month and trends that may impact your investment portfolios.
News
4 Jun 2025
Proposed US Tax Changes
Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a comprehensive tax and spending package, narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 22, 2025, with a 215-214 vote. This legislation, a cornerstone of Trump’s second term, aims to extend and expand provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), while introducing new tax breaks and significant spending cuts.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 May 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – May 2025
Labor’s historic landslide defied Australia’s “incumbency curse” as voters recoiled from Trump-style politics, while Washington’s tariff retreat with the UK, China and the EU fuelled talk of the “TACO trade”. Andrea Ciaccio explains why Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s plan to “grow out of” America’s debt requires nominal GDP growth of at least 6% just to stabilise the debt-to-GDP ratio. He argues Australia looks like a “quiet winner” of the current environment, benefiting from stable politics, a AAA rating and an easing RBA.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
12 May 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, May 2025
Key highlights in the macroeconomic environment for the month and trends that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
30 Apr 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – April 2025
“Obliteration Day” tariffs sent global equities into freefall and, more unusually, dragged down US Treasuries and the dollar in tandem — a combination last seen after Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. Andrea Ciaccio traces the turmoil to the unwinding of the US$800 billion hedge-fund “basis trade” and explains why the wild swings in the US$29 trillion Treasury market, not the equity crash, forced Trump to blink. He argues the US may be experiencing its first genuine emerging-market-style “capital flight”.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
23 Apr 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, April 2025
Watch the April update for a concise discussion of the latest macroeconomic developments, key market trends and the factors that may impact your investment portfolios.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Mar 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – March 2025
European allocators pulled billions from US equity ETFs and ploughed the proceeds into Germany, whose historic embrace of deficit-funded defence spending powered its biggest outperformance against Wall Street in decades. Andrea Ciaccio unpacks the rare, simultaneous decline in US stocks, the dollar and bond yields, and what Stephen Miran’s proposed “Mar-a-Lago Accord” could mean for the greenback. He also flags gold’s record-breaking quarter as an early signal that Trump’s “golden age” may benefit the metal more than the currency.
News
31 Mar 2025
Sestante Dynamic Portfolios now available on the North platform
We’re pleased to announce that the five signature Sestante Dynamic Portfolios are now available on the AMP North platform, making access easier for advisers who have requested North as a new platform for us.
News5-IN-5 Video Series
17 Mar 2025
5-in-5 with Sestante Investment Analyst, March 2025
The March edition of our 5-in-5 monthly video update
InsightNewsCIO Comment
28 Feb 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – February 2025
Trump’s first 40 days back in office reshaped global policy at a blistering pace, from blanket tariffs on America’s three biggest trading partners to a televised Oval Office clash with Ukraine’s president. Andrea Ciaccio frames the market correction as part of a deliberate “detox” and “rebalance” of the US economy, Treasury market and global investment flows engineered by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He argues the reallocation of capital toward Europe and China, already visible in Germany’s historic fiscal U-turn, has further to run.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Jan 2025
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – January 2025
An obscure Chinese hedge-fund spin-off, DeepSeek, triggered the largest single-day market-cap loss in history when its R1 reasoning model matched OpenAI’s best for a fraction of the cost. Andrea Ciaccio traces DeepSeek’s origins from quant fund High-Flyer to its “Mixture of Experts” breakthrough, and argues the shock exposes cracks in the “Magnificent Seven” concentration trade. He also explains why he is maintaining an underweight to the Magnificent Seven and an overweight to international equities as the AI race broadens beyond the US hyperscalers.
InsightNewsCIO Comment
31 Dec 2024
Monthly Market Commentary from Andrea Ciaccio – December 2024
December delivered a paradox: the Fed cut rates for a third straight meeting, yet US Treasury yields jumped 60-80 basis points as fears grew over America’s ballooning deficit and a looming “Liz Truss moment”. Andrea Ciaccio examines why the reaction differed so sharply from the 2019 easing cycle, and what Trump adviser Stephen Miran’s “user’s guide to restructuring the global trading system” could mean for tariffs and the US dollar. He also explains why today’s swollen US net international investment position makes a repeat of 2017’s currency dynamics unlikely.
News
11 Nov 2024
Introducing Sestante Dynamic Star Portfolios on CFS Edge
We are pleased to announce that the Sestante flagship portfolios are now available through CFS Edge as Sestante Dynamic Star Portfolios. Some advisers have been asking for the flagship portfolios to be available through CFS Edge, and now the Sestante Star series will be live on CFS Edge as of the 1st of November 2024.
News
6 May 2024
Let’s talk about gold
The Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) Post Policy Board Meeting on the 19th of March initiated the first interest rate hike in 17 years. Formerly, the cash rate in Japan was set between -0.1% and 0%. Moving forward, the BoJ will aim to maintain it between 0% and 0.1%, departing from its Negative Interest Rate Policy.
News
11 Apr 2024
Inflation heats up, rate cuts on hold
Inflation in the US rose higher than expected in March. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) hit 3.5% year-over-year, exceeding the market’s prediction of 3.4%. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, also came in hotter than anticipated, reaching 3.8% compared to the expected 3.7%.
News
8 Nov 2023
The RBA rate hike
The new Governor Michele Bullock handed down her first rate hike lifting the interest rate from 4.1% to 4.35% at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) November meeting, as broadly expected by the market. However, the statement released by the RBA was dovish, which surprised the market.
NewsPortfolio Changes
25 Oct 2023
Portfolio changes to Sestante Dynamic & CFS FirstChoice managed accounts
Portfolio Changes to Sestante Dynamic Managed Accounts.
News
13 Oct 2023
Quarterly investment update – September 2023
The third quarter of 2023 commenced with an increase in positive sentiment with a US debt ceiling crisis avoided, the US banking crisis of March seemingly in the rearview mirror, core and headline inflation having clearly begun to trend down, and the S&P500 up 23% from its October 2022 lows.
NewsPortfolio Changes
18 Aug 2023
Portfolio Changes to CFS FirstChoice
Portfolio Changes to CFS FirstChoice Dynamic Managed Accounts.
NewsPortfolio Changes
8 Aug 2023
Portfolio changes to Sestante Dynamic managed accounts
Portfolio Changes to Sestante Dynamic Managed Accounts
NewsPortfolio Changes
17 Jul 2023
Changes to AZ Sestante portfolios on CFS FirstChoice
Portfolio Changes for CFS FirstChoice Dynamic Managed Accounts.
News
1 Mar 2023
The new AZ Sestante Index Portfolios available on CFS FirstChoice
We are pleased to introduce the new range of specialist AZ Sestante Index Portfolios. These have been launched today on CFS FirstChoice Superannuation and Pension menus offering six risk profiles and complementing our existing dynamic range.
News
15 Aug 2022
Press Release: AZ Sestante launches digital investing solution – Sestante Invest
AZ Sestante today announces the launch of its digital investing solution, Sestante Invest, as a means of helping wealth management and advice firms to help address the growing “advice gap”.
News
26 Jun 2022
Press Release: AZ Sestante partners with Evergreen to launch ESG Focus portfolios
Specialist investment manager, AZ Sestante, has launched a series of socially responsible model portfolios in partnership with investment consulting business, Evergreen Consultants, as retail demand for Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) solutions ramps up.
News
26 Jun 2022
Notification of funds wind up
Notification for the pursuant to clause 20.1 of each Fund’s Constitution, the responsible entity has formally resolved to terminate the following Funds, effective from 31 August 2018.
News
26 Jun 2022
Dynamic portfolios now available on FirstChoice
We’re pleased to announce that as of today, the AZ Sestante Dynamic Portfolios are now available as managed accounts through the Colonial First State’s FirstChoice platform.
News
22 Mar 2017
International wealth management firm, Azimut Holdings, launches AZ Sestante
International Wealth Management Firm, Azimut Holdings has launched an Investment Solutions firm, AZ Sestante. AZ Sestante is working with adviser groups in Australia to assist them in building more efficient portfolio solutions and to provide access to high quality investment management capabilities.